Starry Eyed And Laughing

Starry Eyed and Laughing's devotion to Bob Dylan is apparent in their "Chimes of Freedom"-quoting name but the band's sound evoked another chime – that of the Byrds, whose crystalline jangle could be heard all over the band's two albums, 1974's Starry Eyed and Laughing and 1975's Thought Talk. This influence may have been apparent but Starry Eyed and Laughing didn't merely copy the Byrds, sounding like a '60s covers band.

The Rockpalast was still in its infancy when the British band STARRY EYED & LAUGHING entered the stage of the Cologne WDR studio L on 24 February 1976. Only a handful of bands like the Streetwalkers, Man, Procol Harum, the Climax Bluesband or Alexis Korner had the honour to perform live in the Cologne studios and later to be broadcasted all over Germany on TV in front of the four Brits Tony Poole, Ross McGeeney, Ian Whitmore and Michael Wickford. STARRY EYED & LAUGHING started playing what is now commonly known as Americana in 1974 – a mixture of country, folk, blues and rock. The sound of SE&L was characterized by Pooles 12-string Rickenbacker, which immediately reminded of Roger McGuinn and the band was called the British answer to the American Byrds. And so it wasn’t surprising that with “Chimes Of Freedom”, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” and “Mr. Tambourine Man” there were three titles on the Rockpalast setlist that were also part of the standard program of the Byrds.

Three CDs. Four-hour anthology of recordings that anticipated the late 70s Power Pop movement. Featuring Badfinger, Slade, The Move, Stealers Wheel, Pilot, Dave Edmunds, Brinsley Schwarz, Honeybus, The Kinks, The Who, etc. While the early 70s musical landscape in Britain was largely dominated by introspective singer/songwriters, Bubblegum Pop and underground Rock bands, a handful of acts bravely continued to pursue the classic mid-60s group sound. With the aid of increasingly sophisticated recording studios, they majored in crisp, muscular, hook-laden three-minute pop songs, bursting with chiming Rickenbacker guitars, irresistible choruses and Beatles/Beach Boys-inspired close harmonies. A few (Slade, Pilot, the ill-starred Badfinger) found commercial success, but the likes of Starry Eyed And Laughing, Shape Of The Rain and Octopus proved to be the right bands at the wrong time - too late for the British Invasion that had swept America in the mid-60s, too early to hitch a ride on the late 70s Power Pop bandwagon.

Various Artists - Across the Great Divide: Getting It Together in the Country 1968-1974 (2019) {3CD Set, Grapefruit Records}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.51 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 559 Mb
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© 1968-74, 2019 Grapefruit Records / Cherry Red | CRSEGBOX061
Rock / Folk Rock / Country Rock

As the Day-Glo tide of psychedelic that swept over the U.K. in the late '60s began to recede, something far less ornate and flashy took root in its place. Spurred on by the artistic and commercial success of Traffic's folk- and jazz-influenced debut album – which was recorded out in the countryside – the Byrds headlong plunge into country-rock on Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and the Band's brilliant slice of backwoods Americana, Music from Big Pink, all sorts of groups and artists sprouted up to play loose and wooly blends of organically grown folk, country, jazz, and rock. Some of the bands were beat group leftovers looking to evolve past paisley (the Searchers, the Tremeloes), some were city boys gone to seed (Mott the Hoople, the Pretty Things), and some were just weirdos like Greasy Bear, or lazy-Sunday balladeers like Curtiss Maldoon, all doing their own freaky thing.